While human capital theories have focused on how schools and colleges supply the skills for economic growth, Green shows how the forming of citizens and national identities through education has often provided the necessary condition for both economic and social development.

1. Introduction 2. The Uneven Development of National Education Systems 3. The Social Origins of National Education Systems 4. Education and State Formation 5. Education and Statism in Continental Europe 6. The U.S. Experience: Education, Nationhood and the Decentralized State 7. English Education and the Liberal State 8. Postscript: Education and State Formation in East Asia

Standing Conference of Studies in Education Annual Book Awards Winner - Second Prize 'A seminal book' - Anne Corbett, Times Educational Supplement 'A courageous and challenging book' - Roy Lowe, History of Education 'Andy Green has written a very good book indeed.' - Roger Dale, Journal of Education Policy 'A vital contribution to our understanding of the changing role of the state in education provision. It should be read widely.' - Clyde Chitty, Forum 'learned, thought-provoking and well written.' - Patrick Harrigan, Historical Studies in Education 'The book is eminently readable, and well argued and documented.' - Witold Tulasiewicz, Comparative Education 'Green has provided a work of such depth and scope that historians and sociologists might ignore at their own considerable loss.' - Dianne Snow, Comparative Education 'Andy Green's recently updated analysis of the relationship between nation states and the education systems that they establish or support is widely regarded as a classic sociology of education text.' - British Educational Research Association (BERA) 40 @ 40 "The new edition of this book by Professor Andy Green is path-breaking in filling the gap of research on the intricate interplay of educational systems and state ... It should not be missed by any scholar who is in the field of comparative and international education, history, sociology, political science, and/or developmental studies, and by practitioners in educational policy, politics and development ... In just one volume the broad, historical overview is provided of the interaction between of educational systems and state formation." - Jun Li, Chinese University of Hong Kong "Nevertheless, it is not the successful articulation between economics and education that most interests Andy Green, but rather the role played by education in the state formation of developmental states. To the extent that these states' principal goal is an economic one, these two levels are often confused, and it is perhaps Green's insistent attempts to separate them that is one of his work's most interesting contributions." - Einzelbelsprechung